Karen Solie takes risks with perception and language. There's a remarkably dark sense of humour at work here, tempered with a haunting vulnerability. According to the Griffin Poetry Prize judges this book "stood out for its mix of physical impressions, perceptual strength, and--especially--mental grace. ... Often in her pages, we encounter wisdom of a severity that we would almost rather not know... "Short Haul Engine is not just an exceptional debut, it is an exceptional book.